No sparkle in this horse

Sparklehorse is no more, now that Mark Linkous shot himself over the weekend.

While not quite the shock of Elliot Smith's inconclusive suicide/murder (the coroner never said which), the timing is a head-scratcher. Fourteen years after his first attempt several damaged his limbs, Linkous finally succeeded at ending his life.

Neither his previous suicide attempt or his down-trodden lyrics might make it unsurprising, but don't make it any less of a shame.

Linkous just a hit a new career high with the high-profile Dark Night of the Soul project with Danger Mouse, the widely leaked side project featuring famous guest vocalists. He had a new record in the works, an eagerly awaited followup to the mostly excellent Slept for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, which opens with my favorite Linkous moment of all, Don't Take My Sunshine Away.

Pig, which opens Good Morning, Spider, features one of the raunchiest heavy leads ever - this squealing could frighten Josh Homme. But Linkous chases his metal burst with the chiming beauty of Painbirds. He proved adept at switching musical gears on a whim, yet never sacrificing his albums' organic flow. Linkous never lost his fragility, whether in song or spirit.

But the man knew how to write a catchy song - you don't land collaborators like Danger Mouse or Tom Waits if you can't keep up. Listening to Cruel Sun this afternoon, it bewildered me to hear Linkous sounding so close to the Strokes. He could fit many roles.

I unknowingly caught a Sparklehorse show in 2003, as the band unceremoniously performed a brief opening set before the Flaming Lips at the Newport. Until he left the stage, I had no idea I had just seen the reclusive Linkous, who I recently began listening to. His understated style could not have clashed more with the Lips and confetti tossers in bear costumes.

As depressing as his songs got, Linkous peppered them with moments of glee - in Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Men he shouts over a punk-rock beat "All I want is to be a happy man." Now it feels like a twisted joke, an ugly cheat pulled by a deeply troubled guy.